Finding Faith, Caroling, and Preparing for Christmas

Christmas is almost here and I thought I better capture some of the things that have been going on before the holidays put us into a mad rush. On Saturday, a week and a half ago, Amy went with April to Oregon for their annual girls’ chocolate-making-day. While they were gone, Bethy kept complaining about a stomach ache and repeatedly requested a blessing. At first I thought she was being too dramatic and told her to wait and see if it felt better. But after about an hour of lying in bed, I finally put on my shirt and tie and gave her one. About 10 minutes later, she was playing with her sisters and proclaimed, “I’m not sick any more dad!” My first thought was that she hadn’t really been sick, but then I realized that even if she hadn’t, she had shown her trust and child like faith in God by acting on her feelings. Who am I, really, to say that the sickness was not as real as her faith? Amy and I had been searching for our digital camera ever since we left for Utah several weeks before. I had even gone to the store the previous day to compare prices, but realized we couldn’t afford a new one. I had pretty much given up the hope of being able to take pictures of this year’s Christmas. But, when I saw the complete trust that Elizabeth put in the Lord’s abilities I finally humbled myself, kneeled down and asked for help. Knowing that a digital camera is relatively meaningless in relation to the Lord’s grand purposes, I was humbled to find the Camera only ten minutes later in a place both Amy and I had searched thoroughly on multiple occasions. It was another witness to me of the Lord’s love for me and the need to trust him. I know that God doesn’t solve every problem or lay out every correct decision before me. He expects me to use my brain, search my feelings, and recognize the source of all that is good, so that I can learn to become like him. Often, he lets me make a decision on my own because he either trusts me, or knows that the consequences will teach me far more than providing the solution at the outset. I know that he won’t always help me find every lost item, but it sure is comforting to be reminded every so often of his ability and willingness to help me. Maybe the next time I don’t find what I’m looking for, He will provide me the heart to be grateful for what I do have.

Last week ended up very busy. On Monday evening I had a meeting in Meridian and then rushed back to Nampa’s City Council meeting, which went almost to 10pm. I needed approval of the scope of work for the update to the comprehensive plan so that I could request qualifications from planning firms. There has been a lot of interest in providing consulting services for the plan and I’m really looking forward to getting the update moving. Tuesday, Amy and I hired a babysitter and went to the company Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, there were so many people that to me it felt too impersonal. I would rather have had just our department meet at a restaurant or someone’s home, but maybe we’ll try that next year. Wednesday night I had scouts and Thursday night I had the open house for the University District plan I have been working on all year. I really didn’t get an evening with my family until Friday.

The weekend was full of activities as well. We took all the kids to Kelli Dittrich’s birthday party, met up with Angie afterwards so Baily and Bethy could stay with her for the night, baked a ham, went to the Ward Christmas dinner, and spent the evening preparing my lesson for priest’s quorum. Sunday was filled with morning and afternoon meetings, then we travelled to Boise and had our annual Christmas dinner and caroling with Uncle Dave, Aunt Nola, Carolyn, Ed’s family, and the Bevans. It was nice to be together and made me wish our lives were less busy so that we could get together more often. I think we’ll probably go out to see the Bevans on Thursday after we open presents and have breakfast at our place. We sure do have great relatives and we love them so much! For some reason, being at the Bryans this weekend reminded me of being at my grandparents during Christmas time. I hope they are pleased with the family we have become.

We have been so blessed this year. We have felt the spirit of Christmas a little stronger in our family as we have tried to sacrifice a little for others. I hope my children will always remember Christmas as a time to give and not so much a time to get. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the true meaning of Christmas and that Heavenly Father gave us the greatest gift of all - His Son. Merry Christmas!

Dizziness, Car Trouble, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Begins

A couple weeks ago, Amy finally got over some extreme dizziness and headaches she suffered through for over a week. Unfortunately, when it first started we didn’t know what to do. We went to several doctors and then had an MRI done before we learned that they had no idea what the problem was. So, $500 later (yes after insurance! Seems a pretty hefty charge to hear they don’t know what the problem is) we still didn’t know what to do. Amy was sitting in front of me one night and I started rubbing her neck and found some really tight and knotted muscles. It was painful, but Amy allowed me to work on it for a while and by the next morning she was no longer dizzy. We think she slept on her neck wrong plus with her nursing and holding Grant all the time, she must have hurt some nerves as well as muscles. Anyway, she’s doing much better now.

That same week, I took my car into a mechanic to get the oil changed and of course was given a long list of items that needed to be done to the car. $220 later I left with the most critical items done. I’m pretty sure that car is not going to be around too much longer, but it sure has been a good one for us. Needless to say, we are now skimping to make our budget work. Raising a family is always an adventure.

We had a really nice trip down to Utah for Thanksgiving. Tuesday night we stayed at the Ruperts so we wouldn’t have to go all the way in one night. Wednesday morning we travelled to Tooele to help out throughout the day with cooking and getting ready for the meal. Since we had Thanksgiving with Ammon and Liz last year, we told the Olson’s we would spend this year’s Thanksgiving with them. Since most everyone was busy with in-laws on Thursday, we decided to have an Ashby Thanksgiving on Wednesday and have oriental food. It was wonderful and if it were up to me, we’d do an oriental day-before-Thanksgiving meal every year. Ammon, Liz, Dawn, Ray, and the Allens all joined us at Mom and Dad’s and we had a great time eating, talking, and just enjoying being together. One major down-side to the holiday was that we couldn’t find our camera before leaving and still haven’t been able to find it since. I’m hoping everyone who did take pictures will share them.

Thursday we spent the traditional Olson Thanksgiving breakfast at Steph and Pete’s home and then spent the afternoon for the Turkey dinner at Amy’s aunt Kristi’s home in Orem. Afterwards, we returned to the Ferguson’s to collect our stuff and talk for a while and finally, returned back to my parents to get the kids in bed (or at least we tried). Overall, it was a nice holiday and I didn’t eat as much as I usually do since I was thinking about my fitness test the following week. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because, as Gary likes to say, it is unadulterated – no push for all the spending and selfishness until the next morning on Black Friday. This year’s Black Friday resulted in a Walmart employee in a New York being trampled to death by early morning shoppers. Thankfully, Thanksgiving hasn’t become so commercialized and self centered as people have made Christmas. Still, I think there is still so much good about the Christmas season.

Friday morning, Ammon, Travis, Ray, Dad, and I went on our traditional skeet shoot. We drove out South of Stockton and had a great time shooting and talking. That is one of my favorite traditions. On Friday afternoon Amy, Grant, and I went camping with all my high school buddies and their spouses. Ammon came too and it was a lot of fun to revisit our old memories and be reminded about so many things I’d forgotten. We went to White Rocks (Cave-Man-Condos) and it was cold but beautiful. We enjoyed trap shooting again, shooting Ryan’s potato gun, talking into the night, and having an amazing dutch oven dinner and gourmet breakfast. We returned on Saturday to the church where Liz and my mom had made a big batch of fish chowder and we met up with the rest of our family members. Those attending over the weekend included: Ryan and Rose; Derek and Maren & kids; Clayton and Ruth; Matt and Teresa; Stephen and his two kids; Ammon and Liz; Amy and Me & kids; and Camille and Scott Hadzik. An unexpected blessing was that Derek got a bunch of gear that needed small repairs, but that were fairly new, from a place he used to work and we got a couple jackets, kids backpacks, and a couple sleeping bags for only $10 – an early Christmas for us! I really want to do this again soon. It was so good to see everyone again.

We attended Church on Sunday, then headed home so I could finish some home teaching on the last day of the month. Someday I’m going to be better at that, but this time it was because families had to keep postponing. We were very grateful to finally get a good nights rest – unfortunately it had been about 2 weeks since we had slept at least 7 hours in one night and we were getting pretty cranky.

Christmas is in full swing now. We have our tree up and have been listening to Christmas music around the house. We watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” the other day and read “A Christmas Dress for Ellen.” We watched the 1st Presidencies Christmas Devotional and have been consistently reminded of how blessed we are. I did really well on my fitness test this time and Amy passed as well. We think we’ll probably get about $170. I kept chanting to myself during the run “Christmas, Christmas, Christmas…” and it helped me get through with my best time yet. One thing that I really liked from the 1st Presidency message the other day was when Elder Uchtdorf said that he believes the economic crisis the world is in will probably cause a lot of people to cut back on the amount they spend for Christmas and that this is probably a blessing in disguise because it turns us to the true meaning of Christmas. I hope I can always keep in mind what Christmas really means. We are trying this year something a little different to make sure our children know how blessed they are and remind them that Christmas is not meant to be a selfish holiday. They have been so willing to think more of others and it has taught me to be more like them. I am grateful for Christ’s perfect example of humility and gratitude and am glad to be reminded of his humble birth.

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote. Work has definitely picked up and my calling has been extremely busy too. A couple of weeks ago my week went like this: Monday was family home evening, Tuesday I went to the pack meeting and helped organize the younger scouts to go do “scouting for food,” Wednesday night I took the older scouts around on their “scouting for food” routes, Thursday I went with the youth to do baptisms at the temple, Saturday I helped the youth pick up the donated food and drop it off at the church, then watched the primary prepare for their primary program, Sunday was a full day of meetings. It’s not like that every week, but it sure has been busy.

My least favorite holiday is over, but Amy has a way of making Halloween enjoyable. She made us all masks and we dressed up in our “incredibles” outfits. We came to my work and then to the ward trunk-or-treat. The kids had a lot of fun and loved the candy.







A couple weeks ago our family and the Dittrich’s went to Layton and Lisa Anderson’s for a Family Home Evening. They asked us to bring a lantern because we wouldn’t be using electricity. We started off by talking about what we are grateful for and then they talked about the pioneers and how they didn’t have electricity. We made scones on a gas grill (something they didn’t have either) the kids made home-made butter, and Bishop (former) helped the kids make home-made ice cream (rolling the can back and forth to all the giggling girls). They were so good with all the kids and I loved to see Layton on the floor having as much fun as the girls. Shane and I shot buffalo (small wooden targets with a rubber band gun). It was such a fun night and we left being even more grateful for the good people in our life.








This past weekend, the Rupert’s came to visit us. It was so fun to have them up. I spent too many nights, however, up until 2 or 3 in the morning just talking with them. While they were here, we visited the Boise Zoo which just opened up a new exhibit with lions, tigers, a giraffe, and a zebra. The kids loved it and I was impressed with our little zoo. It was a lot of fun. On Monday night, we went out to Celebration Park and roasted hotdogs and enjoyed exploring the banks of the Snake River. The Rupert’s left last night and we look forward to visiting them soon. Next week will be Thanksgiving and I’m really looking forward to seeing my family. I’m also excited to see my friends from High School and we have planned to go camping with the them and their spouses out at Cave-Man Condos.

New Photos

I just loaded a few photos from our trip to City of Rocks. Dawn and Ray were there too, but somehow I missed them with my camera. Check out September if you'd like to see them.

Dodge-ball, Animal Crackers, & Economy

I have had an eventful couple of weeks. For about the past month, I have been playing dodge-ball with some guys from our ward. Oscar Williamson and Justin Bledsoe organized a stake dodge-ball tournament and the final tournament was last Thursday night. We had official dodge-ball rules and balls and we all had a great time getting ready for and playing in the tournament. Oscar even had special team shirts made for our team. I have to admit though, it was the most painful sport I’ve played. Every time I played I would ache for days, and toward the end, I ached for an entire week after the games. I got tennis elbow every time and it would often wake me up in the middle of the night from the pain. I’m still not fully recovered, but I’m glad its over so I don’t damage it any more.

My team won the tournament, we had about 15 teams of 6 and played in brackets, playing the best out of 7 games for each team we played. I was one of the slowest on the team, but I still enjoyed it and felt like I at least contributed to most of the winning games. While most of the people we played against and who cheered from the sides were respectful, I was extremely disappointed in a few individuals who obviously could not handle the competition. At one point one man on another team not only became angry about certain calls, but proceeded to make fun of others right in front of his two teenage boys. Another man came into the gym wearing a suit during the final championship games and began yelling and screaming about calls that he felt should have been made against our team. It disappointed me to later learn that this first man was the Stake Sunday School President and the second was a current Bishop. I believe that how you deal with an intense or challenging situation is a major indication of who you are. If that is all it takes to get us angry and to degrade others, Satan has an arsenal of tools to bring on these emotions. Despite the occasional disappointment, I think the tournament was a major success and I am excited for next year.

I need to write about another experience that happened during the tournament. Amy had something she needed to go to that evening, so she took the two youngest kids and I took the two oldest. We brought toys, games, and crayons to keep them entertained on the sidelines, but that wasn’t enough to keep them in the gym. While playing the championship round, Baily came running on to the court urging me to come see what Bethy had done. After the game finished I hurried down the hall to find Bethy and Brianna in the nursery room. They had found a huge jar of animal crackers, dumped them on the floor and then stepped on them. Every inch of the floor was covered in crumbs, cookies, and toys. When Amy and I got in to bed that night, we found that earlier in the day Bethy had drawn on our bed sheets and on every blank page in Amy’s diary and some that weren’t blank. The next day we had her help us clean the entire house as part of her consequences and she did it with very little complaining. Sometimes I feel like there is really no effective way to discipline a four year old! Nothing seems to stick!

After thinking back on that day, I realized that similar things happened in both the dodge-ball tournament and in my relationship with my own child. Although I didn’t use degrading words, in an intense situation (when I found the pen marks everywhere) I lost my temper and shouted at Bethy. When will I ever learn to just stay composed when I discipline? I’ve renewed a goal every day since to not raise my voice the entire day. While I did slip once, I have done much better since. I find that when I’m in control, even though the situation around me may not be, life challenges becomes more manageable and negative feelings don’t smother all the positive.

To another topic, we are currently experiencing one of the worst economic crises since the depression. Several banks have failed, others have been bought out to save them, AIG insurance was bailed out by the Federal Reserve, followed by a bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now Pres. Bush and the Federal Reserve are proposing a $700 billion bailout to save all these Wall Street Financial companies who are now failing because of bad investments and the foreclosure of so many bad loans. Whether it is the right thing to do or not, the majority of the citizens of the U.S. see this bailout as helping out the people who got the country into this economic crisis in the first place and doing nothing to help the regular citizen. Other arguments are against government involvement in the market, and others argue against putting the burden of our bad decisions on the backs of future generations of tax payers. On one side, I agree with all the arguments, and on the other, I see the need for something to be done. There is a lot of fear and families are really struggling all around us. I read an article in the Ensign for October that basically agreed that the wickedness and instability we are seeing in the world is a sign that the Lord’s coming is not far away. This General Authority said we should not be surprised when we see this uncertainty and instability, because it follows what Prophets have foretold since Old Testament times. Whether the end will come in my life time, or when I’ve passed, this has been a good reminder to me to ensure I am prepared and that I increase my faith in the Plan of Happiness. I know these trials the world faces are necessary to humble us and increase our faith.

City of Rocks, Baby Megan, and New Counselor

My birthday was this last Saturday. Ammon and I have been talking about meeting somewhere between his place and mine to go camping for a while now. We finally got to do it this past weekend. A friend of mine recommended going to the City of Rocks National Reserve, just south of Burley, so we decided to try it out.

We also invited others in our family. Angie and Gary’s family met us there and Dawn and Ray came up too. Unfortunately, Erin, Travis, Mom, and Dad couldn’t make it. Mom has been recovering from her surgery and also had back spasms all week. Erin had an emergency c-section and little Megan (spelling?) is doing well. I heard that it was a really traumatic experience for Erin (the baby was coming out “breach” and the nurse had to hold her in for twenty minutes until the doctor arrived for the c-section). I talked to them last night and it sounded like things are going well for both mother and baby now.

The Reserve was incredible! Huge granite boulders and spires struck out of the sandy ground for mile upon mile. We were fortunate to camp in the Twin Sisters campground farther away from most of the climbing routes, but plenty of rock around us to allow the kids to climb around and find little caves and tunnels in the rock. All the kids really enjoyed it and I often spotted Nathan and Bryan at the top of a large boulder or rock cliff, like human mountain goats. The smaller kids found little canyons and small caves to play in. It was fun to see them so excited. Now that we have a big tent and Grant is old enough to handle it, I’d really like to go camping more as a family. Unfortunately, winter is coming again. Maybe we can get a few more trips in before it’s too cold.

Friday night Amy and I made stew for everyone and after roasting marshmallows, we all enjoyed some dutch oven peach cobbler made by Ray and Dawn. We all sat around the campfire and talked until it was dark. After everyone else was in bed, Ammon and I stayed up and talked for a while longer until the bats started flying right past our heads. The next morning, Gary made his dutch oven breakfast and we had hot cocoa and juice. Most of the kids went with Angie and Gary on a good long walk and when they got back, we packed up and drove around the rest of the Reserve. The scenery was incredible and we could see climbers all over the Reserve. At one point as we were driving up the side of the mountain, we looked across the valley and watched two people climb to the top of a huge spire and then stand on the top as if it were a huge platform rather than a tiny peak with a precipice on all sides.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic area with tables and a large old fashioned hand pump to bring drinking water up from a perched aquifer below. The only negative adventure we had was when a bee got into Baily’s pants and stung her several times before we could get it out.

On the way there and the way back, Amy and I read together. We are reading the Lord of the Rings series for my first time and we are both really enjoying it. I thought back on the day and realized how great my birthday turned out. I would much rather spend time with my siblings and family in the outdoors than get lots of expensive presents. I wish the rest of our family could have been there, they would have enjoyed it. We decided to make a trip to the Reserve a yearly tradition. The scenery and terrain is fantastic and it is about four hours for both those in Utah and those in Idaho to get there.

Yesterday I got a new first counselor – Bro. Bender. He will also serve as the Assistant Varsity Coach under Lanson Baumgartner. This week we will be planning for the next six months of activities and I’m excited to have Lanson now be over the Varsity scouts. The Teacher age boys have a little more time to do activities and I look forward to having them get into the outdoors more. We have done very little of that in the Venture program. Last night at Rhet’s eagle court of honor I met the new Stake Young Men’s President – President Mansfield who was just released as bishop of the 20th ward. He informed me of upcoming firesides and events. It was so nice to have the stake actually communicate with me and I’m really looking forward to working with Pres. Mansfield. It feels like things are headed in the right direction. I sure do enjoy my calling and feel like the Lord is blessing me so much.

Flu, Baily's Class, and Friends

The stomach flu that each of my kids had, finally caught up to me last week. In the middle of the night on Monday morning, I woke up sick. The entire Labor Day holiday I spent throwing up. It was terrible, but thankfully only lasted about 24 hours. Still, a week later and I continue to feel drained. Grant is now seven months old and still wakes up in the middle of the night. We’ve tried putting the pacifier back in to see if he would go back to sleep, but to no avail. Once he wakes up hungry, he will not settle down until he’s fed. Since Amy has a super-ability to not wake up through the screaming, I end up getting him from his room. So, with the sickness, waking up several times a night to crying, and having things that keep me up too late at night, I am feeling a little worn out. For Grant, I think its time we just let him cry himself back to sleep in the middle of the night. The girls all went through this and learned quickly to just go back to sleep, but never were as awake and as loud as Grant. I’m not looking forward to it, but something needs to happen.

On to another topic – Amy and I signed up this year to volunteer in Baily’s class. Although Amy did it last year fairly regularly, I never had the chance. Now that I have Fridays off, I take one Friday and Amy takes the next. Amy and I have worried about sending Baily to school where she hears negative and degrading talk and where she must interact with disrespectful and even cruel children. Yet, we know this is also part of life. We decided that rather than isolating her, we would be as involved in her schooling as seemed appropriate. So far it’s been a really great experience and I was very impressed with Baily’s teacher Mrs. Noble. She told me that Baily had the second highest score in her grade for a reading assessment test they take at the beginning of each year. I think this will be a really good year for Baily.

This past weekend seemed to go by in a blur. I went home teaching, attended a business opportunity meeting hosted by one of the families I home teach; fixed several flats (including on my bike); went for a family bike ride; played dodgeball (and got appointed to be team captain in a dodgeball league); removed the storm door in the front; removed the damaged molding and replaced with new molding; made many trips to the store for groceries, propane, and other household items; made smores with the Dittrichs late Friday night, had friends over for Sunday dinner; did a lot of cleaning; and a little yard work. In some ways, I’ve created more work for myself. I originally put the storm door on incorrectly and although it worked, it didn’t look very nice and wasn’t air tight. So I still need to figure out the best way to put the door on. Shane offered to help me and I think I’m going to need him. I just never have been very good at fixing household items. Shane just built a room on to his house and then built his own large bookshelf. It looked incredible. I wish I had more of that ability, but I guess the only way to get it is to start trying. At least I’ve begun the learning process.

We decided this week to try and reach out to other people in our ward. We have felt such a strong bond with our friends the Dittrichs. Still, we knew we shouldn’t be exclusive. So, we had Read and Angie Young and Lanson and Amy Baumgartner over for dinner on Sunday. We all just talked while our kids played outside or in their rooms. The kids went a little wild and were all very dirty by the end of the night, but it was well worth it. We felt such a good feeling after everyone had gone home. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such good people who all have their own unique way of helping us. I am always impressed with people who I like to call “real.” “Real” people are those that may not do everything the traditional way, but have no pretenses - no false fronts. I feel very comfortable around these people who are open, honest, and humble.

Sealing, School Starts, & New Bishop

It has been an extremely eventful couple of weeks. Dawn and Ray were sealed in the Manti Temple on August 15th. Amy went down the weekend before to spend some time with her parents. Thankfully, I kept myself busy all week long with Scouts, City Council Meeting, and yard work. On Thursday night I rode with the Bevans to Utah. Friday was extremely busy with luncheons, pictures, the ceremony, and travelling. Saturday included professional pictures, the reception, watching the Olympics at the reception center, and attempts to keep children entertained and clean. It really was fun to see so many people from Tooele, as well as lots of relatives. When I think back about all the families that were a part of my life as I was growing up, I can’t help but recognize how stable things were for me. Although life wasn’t perfect and I struggled at times to feel accepted, the Lord blessed me with good friends, great adult role models, and an exceptional family. Now my challenge is to just live my life in a way that shows I am grateful for those blessings.

It was a wonderful experience for us to be at the temple for Dawn’s sealing. For the first time ever, all of my siblings were there with all of their spouses. What a great feeling it was to know that we were all worthy to be there. I pray that my own children will some day have a similar experience. Nothing is as important to me on this earth as the desire to have all my family enjoy the blessings of all the temple ordinances and covenants. Amy recently heard that a married couple, a neighbor of ours, is experimenting with immoral, titillating behavior. I wish they understood the great blessings of temple covenants and fidelity. I can’t imagine trading my life and the relationship I have with Amy for any fleeting moment of pleasure the world has to offer. Experiencing Dawn’s sealing and learning of this couple’s immorality has been a powerful contrast.

After returning from Utah, life has somewhat gotten back to normal. Baily started the first grade and is in Ms. Noble’s class. Of course she loves it, and even though it was an emotional event for Amy to send her daughter away to all-day-school, it has been really good for us. Baily is one who has to be actively doing something all of the time. Unlike her sisters who can entertain themselves with almost anything, Baily needs and loves projects. First grade is perfect for her and offers her an opportunity to keep her mind working on something. It’s fun to see how excited she gets about school. Last Sunday I gave her a blessing to start off the school year as my father used to do for us. I felt such peace as I blessed her with safety, a clear mind, and an ability to resist the evil she will undoubtedly face. I worry so much about what occurs at schools and it was comforting to be reminded through that blessing of her desire and tendency to choose the right.

As for Bethy, Lily, and Grant – Bethy continues to make life an adventure, Lily is Bethy’s biggest accomplice and admirer, and Grant is as chubby as ever, but extremely active. Grant scoots around the house and tastes every thing he can get a hold of. If he’s fed and rested, he is an extremely happy baby and shows a big wide-mouthed smile every time he gets any attention.

Other changes are also occuring close to home. A couple weeks ago our ward had some major changes. The presidencies of the Relief Society, Young Women’s, Sunday School, and Primary were changed. Then on Sunday our Bishopric was released. Bishop Anderson, who I have grown to love and deeply respect gave a humble testimony and expressed his love for the ward members. I believe I will always remember his leadership as a defining part of my life. What a great man. My close friend Shane Dittrich was also released after serving for two years as second and first counselor. Without much surprise, my first counselor, Paul Ashton, was called as Bishop. After a presidency meeting before church, in which he was very quiet, I called to make sure he was alright. He assured me he was well and an hour later, President Holm confirmed my suspicions that he has been called as our next bishop. Bishop Ashton called TJ Jones as his first counselor and Kip Dribnack, formerly the Elders Quorum President, as second counselor. Now almost every organization in our ward has gone through dramatic changes. At first I lamented to Amy my disappointment in losing Paul from our presidency, but then realized that our interaction will now only be enhanced. As Bishop, he attends our Priest Quorum meetings and Wednesday night activities. He is the best kind of man and I am so pleased to have him as my Bishop. Adding his love and concern for the youth to that already shown by Bishop Anderson, will only help solidify our youth’s testimonies and knowledge of God’s love for them. I am excited to begin this next phase in my calling and to be surrounded by such great leaders. As I see the evil in the world around me it gives me hope to think that there are so many more wards filled with great men and women, and that there is still much good in society despite the bad.

4th of July, Hike, Reunion, and Family

July has been an extremely busy, but also very enjoyable, month. We spent the 4th of July out at the Bevan’s home in Emmett. We spent the evening at the Bevan’s neighbors – having a barbecue and watching fireworks. Gary and I spent the day going down the river again on the raft and had a great time with his Bishop’s family, including his parents – Nate and Bryan went with us too. My kids love being around their cousins. It’s so nice for Lily to have someone her age to play with. Amy and I feel like it’s almost a holiday every time we go out there because the kids all play happily and we can enjoy being with Angie and Gary.

We started our Ashby family reunion this year by going on the backpacking trip first. We hiked into Fourth of July Lake in the Whitecloud Mountain Range and base camped there. We were going to go further, but we were told the snow was still too heavy and there was a dangerous pass we would have to take. However, we did several day hikes to other lakes and an incredible view of Castle Peak in the Boulder Chain Basin. The view was incredible! In total, we only hiked about 20 miles, but I sure did enjoy sitting around camp reading and playing games. Even though I didn’t catch any fish, I also enjoyed using Liz’s fly rod and getting some practice. It was so nice to just be able to do some thinking, enjoy the scenery and enjoy the conversation with family. I feel like life seems to straighten out for me when I’m in the mountains. Priorities get shuffled and the things that don’t really matter get left behind. Unfortunately, Amy didn’t get to come this time because she is nursing grant. I hope we can start spending more time in the mountains as a family.

The second part of the week was the official reunion. We had so much fun! This year’s theme was Disney’s “The Incredibles.” We had a supers training camp, an obstacle course, super suit design competitions, rocket launching, and an Incredibles quiz. Liz even got everyone Incredibles t-shirts. We also did the rock store, played at the reservoir, went rafting down the Payette, and had a talent show and slide show. The women did crafts, went to a movie, and went shopping; the men all went paintballing and despite the bruises had a wonderful time. Overall, the reunion was a total success. Even though we are still battling the sicknesses shared at the reunion, I already wish we could do it again. It was so nice to see Brenda and Brian and their family again. Being together for the week really made me wish everyone lived closer. I’ve enjoyed being off on my own for the first seven years of my marriage because Amy and I have become quite independent and had to rely on each other more, but I sure would like to be closer now. My siblings and parents have become some of my closest friends.

Since the reunion, we’ve been enjoying some harvest from our garden. We have had zucchini and yellow squash, lots of green beans, rhubarb, onions, and a couple of cherry tomatoes. However, we lost a whole pumpkin plant to squash bugs and almost lost a lot more before we found the pests. Within a couple of days they had multiplied so much that I worried about our whole garden. We promptly got some bug killer and solved the problem. We are also growing more pumpkins, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, plumbs, potatoes, peppers, and several kinds of tomatoes. We have strawberry and raspberry plants too, but they won’t produce this year. Amy and I love to watch our plants grow. She has worked really hard on keeping everything watered and weeded and it really looks nice.

I just finished reading “The Hobbit” by Tolkien. I’ve wanted to read it for years and finally did. It was such a great book. I loved how even though he had amazing adventures and could have great wealth, he still longed for his simple life at home. Although complacency is a hindrance to progress, and some battles and adventures must be experienced for us to better our lives, a healthy feeling of contentment must remain with us as we pursue improvement. I want to be more like Bilbo Baggins, content with the simple pleasures of life and not caught up in the plague of “more.” It seems that the whole world is obsessed by getting more things, more money, more power, and more pleasure. If we could just enjoy what we have, we would have little need for these thoughts. The last couple of days, I’ve really enjoyed going home at lunch and holding my children on my lap and just reading or talking to them. The whole world seems to send their children to daycare, while both parents go to work to pay for things they think will make them happy. If we just put aside our selfish desires and spent more time with our children, I think we’d find we have been looking for joy in the wrong places.

We are looking forward to going down to Utah in a couple of weeks for Dawn’s sealing. I think Amy’s going to go down early and spend some time with her family. I’ll probably go with Angie and Gary on Thursday night. It will be good to see everyone again, even if it is only for a short couple of days.

Baily turns 6, Church, and Busy Saturday

Baily turned 6 years old last Thursday! She was really excited about it, and reminded us every day for about two weeks how many days were left until her birthday. We had some kids from the neighborhood and the ward over to play in the kid pool, run through Baily’s new sprinkler (that shoots balls out the top), and have cake and ice-cream. I came home for a couple hours at lunch time to watch the party and enjoy all the kids. It was a lot of fun. It was so good to watch Baily enjoying the water with her friends. Amy and I often worry about how she sometimes would rather spend her time doing things with grownups rather than kids her age. She did really well though this time and we didn’t even have to encourage her to go out and play. We sure do love our Baily and her wonderful smile. She’s the one kid we can rely on to not “burn the house down” when we turn our heads for five minutes. She is always so willing to go with me when I help people move or when we thin peaches out at the Church orchard. She likes to be where the action is. Baily is also very tender hearted and it doesn’t take much discipline to make her feel really sorry for something she did wrong. Baily likes to sit and listen as Amy and I read a book and likes to be a part of our conversations, asking lots of questions to make sure we involve her in it. I hope we can always have a close relationship with our Baily.

Saturday sure was busy. I woke up early to go to the temple, came back and had breakfast, helped Amy stain our fence, worked in the garden a little, fixed a couple of sprinklers, fixed a flat tire on my bike, went on a family bike ride, attended a birthday party for Garret Pancheri’s daughter, made cookies, helped with meals, and took care of all kinds of fatherly duties like diapers, rocking babies, disciplining, and providing snacks. It always feels good at the end of a day where I’ve gotten a lot done, but I also go to bed wishing I had a little more quiet time to spend with Amy.

On Sunday Amy was released from her calling as Sunday school teacher of the Priest and Laurel aged youth. It was hard for her to be released because she felt so close to those youth and felt like they were doing so well together. She is now responsible for Achievement Day girls, and with some time I know she will learn to love this calling just as much. She certainly puts a lot of effort into her responsibilities. We had an extremely unique sacrament meeting. A ceiling light fell from the chapel ceiling and dangled from its wires a short distance in front of us. We sang hymn #21, while the organist played hymn #22 and very few people even noticed. The conductor struggled through the song trying to stay on beat, but it looked like she was struggling to figure out what was wrong with the timing and placement of the wording. These two occurrences were representative of how the rest of the meetings went. The words of Alma come to mind: “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” Certainly the power of the Spirit comes more readily when sincerity, simplicity, and directness are used.

My good friend Ryan McBride and his wife Rose just got back from the Peace Corps in Morocco. It was so good to speak with him again this past week. He just got a job in Boulder Colorado where they’ll be living for at least a couple of years. I often wish that the good friends Amy and I have made over the years could all live close by, rather than being spread out all over the nation. I have recently been feeling a strong desire to have my family close too. Again, I look forward to the time when distance no longer prevents us from seeing each other and being a part of each other’s lives.

Rafting, Tending, 5 Minute Sit, & The Brothers

It was a busy weekend. We weeded, watched our neighbor’s 3 children, I took the scouts to do yard work for a couple people in the ward, I drove up to Emmett and went rafting with Gary and his bishopric in his raft, played games with the 7 kids, talked to my Dad for his birthday, prepared lessons for Sunday, attended all my Sunday meetings, and got to relax a little and do some reading Sunday afternoon. Rafting was definitely a highlight! It was so nice to be up in the mountains. It reminded me how much I enjoyed growing up so close to mountains. The rafting was wonderful and no one fell out (unless aided by others in the raft). Gary and I decided we’ll have no problem making a couple runs for the reunion. Still, we felt we needed to make sure we get enough practice. We’re going to try to get some more practice in the next couple weekends.

Well, I’ve decided to stick with the 5 minute sit! Yesterday was wonderful. I only had to leave sacrament meeting one time with Lily, and she only started screaming during the closing hymn, so it wasn’t so bad. Grant didn’t have to go out at all! The oldest two were almost perfect (well, not quite, but they did do great!). Grant even made it through Sunday school. I just hope this continues. It was sooooooo nice to be able to enjoy church rather than endure it.

Amy and I finished a novel this week that was set in the pre-existence. The book helped us talk about what it might have been like and also helped us see things a little differently. When we finished, we sat for a long time and talked about how our understanding of what happened in the pre-existence helps us to place the trials and heartaches of this life in an eternal perspective. We both discussed how we knew that difficulties and trials would face us and we still chose to follow the Father’s plan to come to earth. We talked about the different levels of commitment God’s children had in the pre-existence and speculated what our commitment level might have been. I felt that we both must have pledged our dedication. It seems that we probably perceived our impending discouragements as somewhat trivial in the context of the Plan. We might have been extremely disappointed in ourselves had we been able to see the sins we would commit, because we could see how those sins offered no lasting benefit. Finally, we decided that it didn’t matter so much if we didn’t have the strongest commitment in the pre-existence if we chose to act on the knowledge we have now. We recalled that the trials of life are not only for testing how committed we are, but they also are to help us strengthen our dedication, whether it was strong before or not. Certainly, God cares about each of his children and wants them to return to Him. This life is designed for that purpose. As Amy and I watched some neighbor’s children this weekend, for a couple days, I held the baby, and thought about how I wished I could help her understand the Plan of Happiness she had just recently forgotten. Still, I’m sure the Lord will provide reminders throughout each of our lives of life’s purpose. I feel a great responsibility to share that purpose.

Catch Up

Unfortunately, it’s been far too long since I last wrote. Baily is out of school for the summer. She and Bethy are about to finish swim lessons at the Nampa Rec Center - from what I hear, they are both doing really well. The only major concern there is that Amy has to take all four kids to the Rec Center by herself and it doesn’t always go as smooth as she’d like. Bethy has no fear of anything dangerous (including knives, heights, and water) and oblivious to rules, her clone sister Lily just a step behind her, and Grant who likes letting everyone know he’s not happy sitting next to the pool while his sisters play – it can be pretty lively. Amy’s really looking forward to it being done.

The last few months, our family has made a concerted effort to be more active. For mother’s day this year, I gave Amy (and I guess the whole family) a trailer that goes behind my bike and can carry Grant and Lily. Bethy got a new bike for her birthday and Baily is now a pro at no-training-wheels riding. We have really enjoyed going on bike-rides as a family and sometimes joining up with the Dittrichs for a ride (they also have a bike trailer). I started riding my bike to work a couple of times a week about 2 ½ months ago, but unfortunately that didn’t last long because I got a sinus infection and a terrible cough and after 2 months of terrible coughing and two visits to the doctor, I’m finally starting to feel better. However, sickness hasn’t kept Amy from dragging me out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to exercise. We decided we’d try to motivate each other to get up and do some work out videos, although, Amy has mostly been the motivator. I never thought I could do work out videos because I was embarrassed that they’re mainly designed for women. I now have a new respect for them – I’m not going to say any more about it!

A little over a month ago, we went to Eastern Idaho to go to the Bryan’s church meetings. Josh spoke in sacrament meeting since he would be leaving on his mission to the Caribbean Islands. In some ways, I felt like Josh was my younger brother and I was so happy he made the decision to go (especially with so many of his friends not going and since he is a little older than the typical age). It was so good to see everyone (we had quite a few people turn up from the Bryan side). Josh bore a sincere humble testimony and I was so pleased with his commitment. On Saturday night we went out and rode in Uncle Mikes sand rail at the St. Anthony sand dunes. We all had a great time. I also loved being with Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen. We stayed at their house and I loved just talking with them and having the girls be around them. They are such great people.

A couple weeks later, we went down to Utah to visit Ammon and Liz for the Memorial Day weekend (Kid’s Day). We had a great visit with them and just were able to relax and talk. Monday morning, Dad, Mom, Dawn, Ray, and Travis and Erin’s family came and we had our traditional trip to the super market for cereal. We played games all morning and just enjoyed being together. Amy and I have felt, once again, how blessed we are in the relationships we have with family and friends. I personally feel so thankful to have such a close relationship with my brother and his wife. And even though our family is mostly a good distance away, the Lord has really blessed us with such wonderful friends up here as well. Elder Eyering once said in a missionary broadcast that our true friends are those that in conversation with them the gospel is brought up naturally. While Amy and I don’t have a big group of friends, we have been blessed with a few “true friends,” including several members of our family. I am so grateful for that.

Life at home has been a little dramatic. It almost seems like the kids are battling for attention again. I thought that need for so much attention would diminish after they got used to Grant being around, but maybe the addition makes them feel like they have to compete more. I sure do have a lot to learn about being a father – unfortunately, I have to practice on “live” kids. How does God do it with all the children he has!? I’ve been a little frustrated with the way my family behaves at church, so we’ve been doing a “5 minute sit” every night for the past week and a half. The entire family has to sit on the couch for five minutes without wiggling, talking, or even touching each other. The girls actually have done really well in the practice runs (okay, except for Lily who screams the entire time as I hold her) However, despite their good behavior in practice they put on a major dramatic performance during sacrament meeting on Sunday. Several times, Amy and I were both outside of the church with the two youngest screamers, while praying that our two oldest would not be climbing on to the chapel podium squealing into the microphone when we returned. We finally had to strap Lily into her car seat while Amy held the baby next to her so I could return to check on the other two. I’m going to give the “5 minute sit” a little more time to show results before I start rethinking a strategy.

A couple days ago I learned from Dawn that Ray got his clearance to be sealed to her in the temple. They will be sealed in the Manti Temple on August 15, 2008. I am so pleased for her. The Lord has truly blessed our family.

Baby Grant

So, with the new job and a baby being born I have had a very difficult time finding time for writing down anything. Grant Ryan Ashby was born January 25th, 2008, was 7lbs even, and 20 inches long. I will attach several pictures. I have felt for a while that the birthing process was a scary and somewhat gross event. Maybe this feeling was intensified during Lily’s birth. The placenta began separating from the uterus wall before Lily was born and so it was a very bloody and scary situation. I remember feeling so helpless and not knowing why there was so much blood and not knowing why everyone was running around in emergency mode. Well, Grant’s birth was quite the opposite. Dr. Hodges was so calm and so patient. He just continued to talk to us the entire time. Grant’s face was pointed down and Dr. Hodges patiently worked on him until he finally turned around (thankfully even without forceps). After Amy pushed a little and got his head just barely out, Dr. Hodges coached me as I delivered the baby and then Amy reached down and pulled him completely out. It was a very moving and spiritual experience for me, unlike any of the others. I was so thankful to him for being so calm and patient. He commented that it was one of the best births he had been a part of. April and Shane Dittrich had there new boy, Collin, born the day before Grant. They were just a few doors down from us in the hospital and it was fun to hang out with them for a couple days without any of our girls. They are such good people and we sure do love them.

Well, Grant is doing pretty well now. All the kids have been sick for several weeks now and we had to take the two youngest to get anti-biotics. Grant’s doing a little better now that he’s been on medicine. Still, Amy gets very little sleep at night and we’re finding that Grant is somewhat of a screamer. We borrowed a bouncer from Shane and April Dittrich yesterday. It vibrates and plays music and I’m hoping it will help. I think it’s been difficult for Amy to have a screaming baby, to not get enough sleep, and to have three girls that are acting up because of the lack of attention they’re getting. Bethy got up in the night for three nights straight, pulled down her pull-up, and wet on the floor. I didn’t know what to do. Things are going okay now that we are rewarding her for every time she goes in the toilet in the night, but I didn’t enjoy paying for the carpet to be cleaned. That Bethy is costing me a fortune.

Maybe things would calm down a little if I didn’t keep adding to the chaos. I’ve talked to several realtors this past week and I think we are going to try to sell our home. Amy really wants to stay in the ward (probably move to the Meadows), but I’m not sure we can afford it. The critical thing is that we live in a 1200 square foot house with four children and it is pretty cramped. This is the worst housing market in 25 years, so I’m not real optimistic about selling, but we’ll see what happens.

Work is going well. I feel like I’m able to be creative and somewhat of a student. I study approaches to economic development and planning and then try to implement those ideas. It’s actually quite fun. Add to all of this, my calling with the young men and life is extremely busy, but very fulfilling and very good. I love being alive at such a wonderful period of the world’s history.

New Job and Snow

We have had a ton of snow this past week! But oh how nice it has been to just have to travel a couple of miles to work. Even with the snow I've been coming home for lunch and it averages about 7 to 8 minutes to make the drive.

While I am very new to my job and am not sure about the specifics of what I will be doing, generally I believe it will be a great experience for me. Already, it is challenging me and introducing me to knew ideas.

Last week Amy went to her doctor's appointment and the doctor was really surprised that the baby looked ready to come out any time now. He expected it to come before her next appointment and we tried to prepare for it the best we could the rest of the week. The baby still hasn't come yet. We went in yesterday to have Doc. Hodges start Amy into labor, he was concerned about her being so far away from the hospital. However, when we got there, they were running behind and we waited an hour before we got to see the nurse and then Doc. Hodges poked his head in the room and apologized, saying that he had two deliveries occurring right then that he had to be to and couldn't start Amy this week. So, we spent about 20 seconds checking the baby's heart beat and left to pick up our kids in Emmett - we thought they would have to stay with Angie for a couple days. We got back home just in time for me to go to mutual/scouts. I was a little dissappointed to not have it happen, since we had made so many arrangements. Oh well, maybe he'll come on his own, or they'll try to start Amy again at her appointment next week. I just hope we make it! I don't want Amy to have the same experience as Denise and Ed (who had their baby on the way to the hospital).